CSU Looks For Fifth Straight Ram Masters Invitational Title, Sept. 17-18

Tournament: Ram Masters Invitational presented by Pedersen Toyota
Date: September 17-18, 2018
Host: Colorado State University
Location: Fort Collins, Colo.
Course: Fort Collins Country Club
Course Par/Yardage: Par 70 / 7,218 yards
Host Web Site: http://www.CSURams.com
Live Scoring: http://www.golfstatresults.com
Tournament Field (17): Colorado State, Cal State Fullerton, Denver, Idaho, Illinois State, Long Beach State, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Omaha, Rice, Sam Houston State, Seattle, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Washington State, Wichita State, Wyoming, Colorado (Ind. Only)

Next on the Tee: The Colorado State men's golf team will host the seventh annual Ram Masters Invitational presented by Pedersen Toyota, Sept. 17-18. The two-day, 54-hole tournament is being played at Fort Collins Country Club.
   The Rams have won the tournament the last four years, including last year's record-setting performance.

Handicapping the Field: There are 17 teams in the field for the Ram Masters Invitational. In the field along with the No. 28 Rams are Cal State Fullerton, Denver, Idaho, Illinois State, Long Beach State, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Omaha, Rice, Sam Houston State, Seattle, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Washington State, Wichita State and Wyoming.
   Cal State Fullerton, North Dakota State and Washington State are making their first appearances in the tournament, while Denver, Northern Colorado, Wichita State, Wyoming and, of course, CSU have played in every event.

Lineup for the Ram Masters: The Rams are in the play-five, count-four event this week at the Carpet Capital Collegiate. For CSU, the lineup will feature two players making their debuts in the team lineup:
1.   Davis Bryant
2.   Jake Staiano
3.   AJ Ott
4.   Cullen Plousha
5.   Parathakorn Suyasri
Ind.   Jack Ainscough, Andrew Lafferty, Oscar Teiffel, Akedanai Ponghathaikul

On the World Stage: Six Rams on the current roster are ranked among the top 1400 players in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings. The rankings are based on their average performance in selected counting events over the past two calendar years.
Player   WAGR
AJ Ott   271
Jake Staiano   450
Parathakorn Suyasri   764
Davis Bryant    993
Jack Ainscough   1098
Akedanai Ponghathaikul   1384
Oscar Teiffel   2627

Last Time Out: The Colorado State men's golf team posted the second-best final round in the field and moved up four places to finish 10th at the Carpet Capital Collegiate, Sept. 7-9. The three-day, 54-hole event, hosted by Georgia Tech University, was played at The Farm Golf Club (Par 72 – 7,178 yards) in Rocky Face, Ga.
    The Rams rallied in the final 18 holes for its best score of the event and the second lowest among the 13 2018 NCAA Regional teams and the NAIA National Runner-up. CSU had four rounds of par or better to post a 7-under 281 and finish the tournament at 17-over 881, defeating nationally-ranked California and Florida among its victories. Tennessee took the tournament title after winning a playoff over Georgia Tech after both teams tied at 21-under 843. Alabama placed third at 19-under 845, with Clemson, who shot the low round of the day at 9-under 79, and South Carolina tying for fourth at 1-under 863.
    "What a great round for our team today, the second-low round of the day," head coach Christian Newton said. "Everyone played great from start to finish. None of these guys gave up after such a shaky start, and we ended up taking home some nice wins over legitimate top-20 programs. I am very happy with how we hung tough this week."
    The Rams' top finisher was freshman Davis Bryant who posted a top 20 in his first collegiate tournament with a tie for 16th at even-par 216. Bryant shot one of two 3-under 69s for the team in the final round. Senior Jake Staiano was next in a tie for 27th at 3-over 219, while junior AJ Ott shot a 1-under 71 to finish at 8-under 224 in a tie for 53rd. Sophomores Cullen Plousha and Parathakorn Suyasri tied for 68th at 12-over 228, with Plousha firing a career-best 3-under 69 for the day. Clemson's Bryson Nimmer was the individual medalist at 10-under 206, one shot better than Tennessee's Jake Meenhorst and Davis Riley of Alabama.
(complete results and recap on page 5)

Last Year at the Ram Masters: Record Setting Event at Ram Masters: CSU had its name all over the Ram Masters Invitational record book during the 2017 event. As a team, the Rams set new records for lowest single-round score (-12, 268 in opening round), lowest 36-hole score (-12, 548) and lowest 54-hole score (-17, 823) in the tournament's history. The Rams' third round of 5-under 275 is also the fourth lowest in the tournament's annals. Individually, AJ Ott's 4-under 206 is tied for the sixth-lowest 54-hole score, while Jake Staiano's 3-under 207 is tied for ninth. Staiano's 4-under 66 in the first round is tied for the 10th lowest single-round score.

Memorial Bag Established: CSU will honor former golfer and late U.S. Army veteran James "Jerry" Jackson with a memorial golf bag, head coach Christian Newton announced.
   Jackson served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, eventually passing away from lasting effects from exposure to Agent Orange from his service. After his passing, a group established the Friends of Jackson Endowed Scholarship for a golf student-athlete pursuing a degree in the College of Agriculture, as he played golf for the Rams during his collegiate career.
   "It's very important to me that our players understand the sacrifices that were made by our veterans that affords us our day to day liberties," Newton said. "We are all so fortunate to reside in this country. That fact that we can honor a veteran, alum, and former player will make it that much more meaningful."
   The bag will be carried by the top CSU finisher from the previous tournament during the 2018-19 season. Senior Jake Staiano earned the honor after winning the qualifying event for this week's Capital Carpet Collegiate at Georgia Tech, Sept. 7-9.
   Donations can be made to enhance the endowment through the Ram Club by contacting Jay McMillin at 970.491.7346 or jay.mcmillin@colostate.edu.

Tournament   Player Carrying   Finish
Carpet Capital Collegiate   Jake Staiano   t-27th
Ram Masters Invitational   Davis Bryant

Individual National Rankings: Colorado State's success on the course is due to the entire lineup, as all five golfers in the NCAA Regional lineup were ranked significantly in the key NCAA Division I metrics. The Rams rankins at the end of last season were:
Player   Golfweek   Golfstat
AJ Ott   174   188
Max Oelfke   181   194
Jake Staiano   262   296
Jack Ainscough   336   398
Parathakorn Suyasri   372   494

Newton MW Coach of the Year; Ott, Oelfke Honored: Coming off its second straight runner-up finish in the Mountain West and highest ranking in six years, the Colorado State men's golf program earned a trio of postseason awards as head coach Christian Newton was named MW Coach of the Year while sophomore AJ Ott and senior Max Oelfke were named to All-Mountain West today. The honors were determined in a vote by the league's coaches.
   In earning his first league honor, Newton led CSU to its current ranking of No. 39 according to Golfweek and No. 44 according to Golfstat, as well as back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Mountain West Championship, the top back-to-back combined placings in program history. The program is also assured of its first NCAA Regionals berth as a team since 2012 under his leadership. He is just the fourth CSU coach to ever earn the honor, as Jamie Bermel garnered the award three times, and first since 2009-10.
   Ott led the Rams in scoring average this season, averaging 71.63 strokes in 30 rounds played, an improvement of almost four strokes a round over his freshman year. He posted a pair of top-five and three top-10 finishes on the year, highlighted by a fourth in the Ram Masters Invitational and a tie for fifth at the recent Mountain West Championship. He had 14 rounds of par or better, with a career-best 6-under 66 in the first round of the MW event, and placed in the top 26 in eight of 10 tournaments played this season. Having started the year not ranked in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, Ott has jumped all the way to 290th in the world from his play this year. He also is currently sixth on CSU's single-season chart with his 71.63 scoring average.
    Oelfke was second for CSU in scoring right behind at 71.80 strokes per round, including a pair of top-five placings and three top 10s. The senior's top finishes were a second at the season-opening Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational and a tie for fifth with Ott and fellow Ram Jake Staiano at the Mountain West Championship. For the year, he had 17 rounds of par or better and finished in the top 21 in six events, including top-15s in the nationally-renowned Oregon Duck Invitational and Western Intercollegiate this spring. His average has him 11th on CSU's single-season scoring list entering the postseason.
   The duo are the 20th and 21st Rams to be honored since the league started in 1999-2000. Additionally, this gives CSU three players that have been recognized on the squad as junior Jake Staiano was a selection last season.

On the CSU Career Chart: The current roster etched their names on the CSU record book (since 1993-94) with their performances last season along with one of the graduates.

Senior Jake Staiano continues to be among the best to have played at CSU so far in his career. His scoring average of 72.29 in 84 competitive rounds ranks fourth all-time in average and sixth versus par at +0.82.
He is one of six players in CSU history to have 50 percent or more of his collegiate rounds played at par or better (currently 46 of 84 - 54.8 percent). Last season, he has 20 of his 33 rounds at par or better, (60.6 percent) just cracking the top 15 in school history.
Staiano has an all-time win percentage of 70.7 percent, currently sixth in CSU annals, while recent graduate Max Oelfke ranked 13th in the category at 63.5 percent.
Junior AJ Ott finished eighth in single-season scoring average at 71.67 strokes per round.
Oelfke showed his ability to post quite a few under-par holes in his career. He set the school record for career eagles on his final par-5 at the NCAA Regional, finishing with 22 in 126 rounds played. He also has 414 career birdies (averaging 3.29 per round), which is sixth.
Staiano also ranks on the eagles made chart with 11, tied for eighth.

Putting Together Top-10s Last Season: CSU has played extremely solid golf in the 2017-18 season, showing in the rankings. Sophomore AJ Ott, senior Max Oelfke and junior Jake Staiano each had four top-16 placings. Staiano and freshman Parathakorn Suyasri finished fifth and tied for eighth, respectively, at the Ram Masters Invitational. Suyasri also finished in a tie for eighth at Saint Mary's, Yates tying for 14th and Ott tying for 20th. The top trio for CSU (Ott, Oeflke, Staiano) all tied for fifth at the recently played Mountain West Championship, solidifying the team's berth in the NCAA Regionals. For last year, the Rams had six top-five, 14 top-10 and 27 top-20 individual finishes.

Making A Mark Nationally: The Rams made their presence known on the national scene last year. With four top-five finishes in the fall and solid placings in the top spring events, CSU finished the season ranked No. 41 in the nation according to the Golfweek ratings & No. 45 according to Golfstat's ratings.

Showing the Growth: Under head coach Christian Newton, CSU continues to show growth on the national stage, as the Rams play a high-level schedule each year. With the performance so far this season, Newton's teams moved to a 59.5 percent winning record in his six years according to Golfstat. Newton moved ahead of Mark Crabtree (1994-99) on the list at 57.0 percent and Newton has six career CSU team tournament titles to Crabtree's five.

Another Notable Accomplishment: Colorado State finished the 2017-18 slate with a head-to-head mark of 116-51 (.695) on the season against one of the toughest schedules in school history, far above the minimum .500 record for consideration for the NCAA Regional at-large bid they received.

Ram on Tour: Former Colorado State standout Martin Laird, a PGA tour veteran, had a solid 2018 season on the tour, currently with $1,017,580 in earnings and currently 115th in the FedEx Cup. He made the cut in 14 of 22 events played with three top 10s and seven top 25s, with the best finish a tie for seventh at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a 17-under 271. In 2018, his efforts during the regular season earned him a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs for the ninth time. For his career, he has now surpassed $16.65 million in winnings and made the cut in two-thirds of his 261 PGA Tour starts in his 11 years on the top golf tour. Laird was inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame last fall.

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